Chobani announces first Australian cohort of its food-focused incubator program

Yoghurt company Chobani has launched the new Australian arm of its food-focused incubator program, announcing the five startups set to make up the first cohort.

The Chobani Incubator was created to “take on the big guys” while making delicious, nutritious, natural and accessible food, a philosophy known throughout the company as its DNNA.

In creating the Australian program, Chobani partnered with Monash University and the Food Innovation Centre (FIC) to create a framework that supports the next generation of food entrepreneurs.

The companies chosen for the program will spend February to May collaborating and learning from key members and executives of the Chobani team, take part in educational programs at a variety of Chobani locations, and receive a $10,000 grant to grow their business, equity free.

FIC’s facilities have been designed to support food entrepreneurs perform tasks like product development and quality testing, part of Monash University’s wider work in the food innovation and agtech space.

The development will sit on one hectare of land at Bosch’s Clayton headquarters, making room for a development centre and agtech ‘launch pad’ facility, which will include a smart farm. Here, Monash said it will look to work on applying technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and advanced sensor technology to farming.

The plan for Chobani is to combine FIC’s work with Chobani’s strength as a high-growth company in areas like sales, marketing and customer engagement – helping to grow and innovate Australia’s food industry.